Hunger's New Staple

Feeding America’s research brief, Food Banks: Hunger’s New Staple, details the frequency of clients’ visits to food pantries. Findings from this analysis suggest that families are not only visiting pantries to meet temporary, acute food needs – instead, for the majority of people seeking food assistance, pantries are now a part of households’ long term strategy to supplement monthly shortfalls in food. Seniors, who so often are limited by fixed or no incomes, are shown to be among the most consistent food pantry clients. While Feeding America’s analysis is based on nation-wide statistics, Caring Community Friends has seen similar patterns in the local community. Many clients rely on the Caring Community Friends’ food pantry as a supplemental food source, no longer exclusively as “emergency food” to provide temporary relief. Caring Community Friends continues to develop ways to address these new trends. On-going supplemental food programs like Fresh Market Thursdays, Senior Servings, and Food4Kids Backpack programs target individuals and households who would otherwise be at risk for long term food-insecurity.